The Shura council approved the decision by 107 votes, at its 49th meeting on Friday (29 September). It called on the General Presidency of Scholarly Research and Ifta, the governmental body authorised to issue fatwas, to open independent sections for women.

Female members of the council had been calling for a vote since March, demanding that the council allow female muftis, expounders of sharia law, to issue fatwas.

The decision was welcomed by Islamic law specialists.

Saad Al-Quwaie, Professor of Juristic Policy at the Naif College for National Security, told Al Hayat newspaper that involving women in Islamic jurisprudence and getting them to participate in scientific activities had always been one of the key issues in the kingdom.

"Confirming the work of women in the General Presidency of Scholarly Research and Ifta is an important requirement of Islamic law and jurisprudence. It is governed by the rule of warding off evils takes precedence over bringing benefits for the sake of gender balance, without forgetting that each one has its own role," he said, as quoted by Arab News.

In a historic vote, Saudi Arabia's Shura council ruled that women would be allowed to issue fatwas, Islamic legal pronouncements, on 29 September 2017REUTERS/Faisal Al Nasser

A Sharia law expert named only as Al-Bishi said that women play a key role in Islamic communities and that allowing them to make legal pronouncements would benefit society.

"This recommendation coincides with the Kingdom's comprehensive renaissance in the fields of social, economic, political, scientific and juristic," he said.

Many Saudis welcomed the decision, describing it as a major milestone for the country, but other more conservative citizens expressed confusion and anger at the reversal of the ban, which has received the backing of prominent clerics for decades.